7: In Which Maka Meets Another Person Her Age Whom She Actually Want to Befriend (Despite Their Reluctance)

After the near-disaster of the first delivery (which Maka decided to never breathe a word of to anyone for the rest of her life) business went slowly. Maka was forced to reside over the counter at the café and apothecary; whichever had more business that day would be her perch. Usually it was the café, such as today.

And today was just her, since Harvar had a family trip planned for the day and Ox called in sick. Miss Marie had done almost all of the baking and, without taking any breaks, told Maka she was going to the market to buy more fruit and left.

Maka sighed. "I'm bored, Blair!"

"I'm aware," the cat said.

"I haven't gotten a single phone call since the first day."

"You told me that yesterday."

Maka sighed again and rested her chin against the counter. Blair glanced at her and scolded, "You should sit up straight. No one will want to come into a coffee shop where the girl at the register looks so bored."

"I can't help it! There's nothing to do, and no one's here."

It was true. The café was surprisingly empty for a weekday afternoon. Usually there would be at least a few young people or an elderly couple or two escaping the rising summer heat. Miss Marie even mentioned that college students would stop by once their break was over and they were back in school. But for the time being there was no one there but the witch and her familiar.

Blair started grooming herself. Maka continued to talk.

"Blair, imagine if no one ever comes. And we just sit here day in and day out and day in and day out until we're both old and wrinkly. And then we'd only make enough money to eat those pancakes and nothing else."

"I don't mind eating pancakes forever. Though I do miss your papa's cooking. He always made something with fish and vegetables."

Maka frowned at Blair, but said nothing. She didn't want to admit that she was a bit homesick for her idiot father's food. But Blair had a point. Her papa's meals were well-balanced. Perhaps she would have time to get some things from the market after Miss Marie returned.

The jingling of the door snapped Maka out of her thoughts. She looked up to see a very skinny person walk into coffee shop. They were wearing a long black dress and boot, both with white collars. They were fidgeting a lot, eyes darting around as if they were looking for someone. Their purplish hair was cut into an uneven bob.

Despite the skirt Maka could not tell if the young person was a male or female.

"Welcome!" Maka called.

The young person flinched at the call. They looked at Maka, sweating a bit under her curious scrutiny. "H-hi."

The person's voice gave no hint to their gender either. Maka shrugged. It would be rude to ask, so she would leave it at that.

"Is there anything I can get you today?"

"Oh, I'm not here for a drink. Um, i-is Miss Marie here?"

"She actually stepped out a few minutes ago to go to the market. But I'm sure she'll be back soon, if you want to wait. I could get you some tea."

"That's okay… I'll just come back later."

"Nonsense! There's no one here at this time anyway," insisted Maka. "What's your name?"

"Crona…"

"Crona what?"

"Just Crona."

"Okay 'just Crona,' I'm Maka Albarn. Please to meet you!"

Crona nodded. Maka sat them down at one of the tables by the window before busying herself with the kettle. Crona took a seat at the nearest the door, which consequently was nearest the counter too. Maka tried to make some small talk as she worked.

"Do you live around here, Crona?"

"Not really…" They watched Maka with pale blue eyes. "It's a bit of a walk."

"Parents?"

"No, I'm an orphan."

Maka paused. "Oh. I'm sorry."

"Don't be! I never knew who they were…so what's there to be sad about?"

"That's an interesting way to look at it. Does that mean you live at the orphanage?"

"Y-yeah…"

"How old are you?" Maka asked.

Crona began to play with their fingers. "I'm thirteen. Most people think I'm older though."

"What a coincidence! I'm thirteen too!" Maka smiled. "You might know some of my friends then! They're all around my age or a little older."

"I doubt it," said Crona. It was the most firmly said sentence they'd uttered.

Maka poured them a cup of tea and set it down before them. Crona added a lot of sugar and no cream before taking a sip and relaxing slightly. When Maka asked if she could join Crona just pointed at the empty seat across from them. Maka grabbed another cup and sat down.

"Remember you're still working," Blair called from the counter.

Maka responded with, "There's no one but me and Crona here right now. I can handle a customer if they come in."

"How unprofessional."

"Silly cat! If you're so good why don't you take the orders?"

"You know Bu-tan can't! Maka!"

Maka giggled and turned back to Crona, who was staring at her a bit.

"Sorry about that. My cat was being a bit silly," she explained.

"Um…okay?"

"But enough about Blair. We were talking about people our age who we know. Surely you've met some other people at school," she said as she made her tea. Three sugars and a bit of cream, just the way she liked it.

"I don't go to school here…"

"Why not?" Maka asked. "Are you not allowed to?"

Crona stared down into their cup. "I'm homeschooled. I don't do well around big groups of people. What about you? If you go to school here, then wouldn't you know I don't go there? Or are you also homeschooled?"

The young girl shook her head. "Nope! I'm a witch!"

"A…witch?"

"Yep! When a witch turns thirteen, she moves to a new town to do a year of work. So I'm actually working this year instead."

"That seems really hard."

Maka shrugged. "It's a bit hard, but it's all for a good cause!"

"Really?"

"That's right!"

"What cause?"

Maka was about to answer, but then she paused, thinking. "You know, I'm not really sure. I think it had something to do with the fact that witches had a violent past. You know how they were always hunted and burned at the stake? And how all the stories have evil witches? Those were our ancestors."

Crona nodded. "I've heard those stories."

"Yeah, so some are just stories, but a lot of the burnings were real. We call it the Purging. After the Purging I know that a group of witches got together and created what's called the Witches Council. To clear the bad name of witches every witch has to complete a year of service and report to the Council. All I know is that the Witches Council is responsible for making sure we're all in line. I've never dealt with the Council though, so I'm not completely sure how to either." Maka frowned. "I actually have no idea how to report I've been working…"

She clapped her hands loudly, causing Crona to jump a bit. "Well, I can always figure that out on another day. Perhaps Dr. Stein can tell me about it later."

They sat in silence for a bit, sipping their tea. Maka grabbed them some cookies after a while and refilled the pot. Almost twenty minutes had passed since Crona had entered the café. Maka decided she liked Crona. They were a bit confusing, and their wavelength was off from others, but Maka felt like she could understand it in a weird sort of way.

"You know," she finally said as Crona finished their second cup of tea, "I wouldn't mind introducing you to everyone else. I'm sure they'd like to meet you too. I have a lot of friends here in Dödenstad. What do you say?"

"I, um, wouldn't mind? I guess?" Crona played with the hem of their sleeve. "I think that'd be nice. But I do well around people…"

"It'll be fine. And I'll be there!"

Crona looked at Maka's genuinely smiling face and felt a surge of confidence. Something about Maka's aura was very calming to them. They agreed.

Maka stood up. "I should clean all this up. I'm sure Miss Marie will be back any minute."

"Thank you for sitting with me. That was really nice of you."

Maka laughed. "Nonsense! I wanted to sit with you. You seem like a really nice person, Crona. I'm glad we could talk."

Crona seemed a bit nervous when they admitted, "I used to think witches were all bad. That's what I learned when I was younger. That magic is always a bad thing and you shouldn't use it unless you know a lot about it. But I'm glad I met you Maka. You're a very nice person, and I don't think you would use your magic for anything evil."

"I can promise you I'll never use my magic for evil," Maka swore. "Besides, I'm glad you don't think witches are bad. It's a bit of an old-fashioned view to be honest. I've heard some people still hold it. I've never met anyone like it though."

Maka reached over the counter and grabbed a tray. She cleared the table of the cups and saucers. Crona fumbled around in their pocket for a crumpled bill.

"Let me pay for it."

"On the house!" she replied with a grin.

"Remember you're paying Miss Marie back," Blair warned.

Maka swung around and stuck her tongue out at her. Blair did it right back at her before vanishing into the back.

The tinkling of the front door made Maka turn around from the sink. "Welcome!"

"It's just me," said Marie as she walked in with an armload of groceries. Then she noticed the skinny teen sitting at the table. "Crona!"

"Miss Marie!" Crona visible relaxed, even smiling a little.

Miss Marie smiled as well. "Give me one second to put these away and I'll be right with you, alright?"

"Okay."

Marie vanished into the back of the store. She came back a couple of minutes later wearing her apron and hands empty. "Are you here for your medicine?"

Crona nodded.

"You do know you can just go into Franken's office, right? You don't have to ask me every time."

"I know. It's just that, your husband…he makes me nervous."

She laughed. "I understand. He can be a bit of a mad doctor sometimes, right? You sit tight. I'll go back and get your things."

"Thank you, Miss Marie."

Maka gave Crona a questioning look while Miss Marie went next door. "Medicine?"

"I'm sick," said Crona. "I was born very weak. So I've had to take all kinds of medicine since I was a baby to stay alive. My caretaker found that Dr. Stein's works the best so I've been coming here for a few years now. But Dr. Stein scares me. And so does his building. It's so dark, and it smells strange."

Maka had never noticed a smell outside of the herbs and the sharp spike of Dr. Stein's magic. Maybe Crona had a sensitive nose.

Marie came back with a small bag that carried a very earthy smell to it. She handed it to Crona in exchange for a few bills. She patted Crona on the head.

"We'll see you next week at the same time, right?"

"Yes Miss Marie."

She stroked their hair gently. "Okay. Be safe until then."

Crona bowed slightly and left. Maka watched them go.

"Who exactly was that, Miss Marie?"

"Oh, Crona?" Marie smiled. "They're one of our regulars. Comes in every week for something new. Different types of medicines, most of them relating to helping with circulation and sleep aids."

"Are they actually sick? They seemed fine."

"Franken thinks so. But that poor child looks worse and worse each week. I do hope everything's okay." Marie sighed before smiling at Maka. "Thank you for sitting with them. I don't think I've seen anyone talking to Crona before. They could really use a friend in my opinion."

Maka shook her head. "I was glad to. They were really nice. Oh!" She pointed to the dishes. "I gave Crona some tea and cookies without asking them to pay. I'll pay for it."

"Don't worry about it. You have to work alone today. You deserved a break."

The bell rang again. This time it was a familiar white-haired teenager. He slouched a bit and gave Maka a pointy-toothed grin.

"Hey there Miss Witch."

"Hi Soul," she said coolly.

Soul sat at the nearest table where Crona had been just a few minutes ago. "Good, you're working here today. I wanted to ask you about something."

"Not until my break in twenty minutes," Maka retorted as she got out a menu and order pad. "Until then, what can I get you today?"

He stared at the menu for a long time despite the fact that Maka knew Soul knew every item on it. He finally said, "Could you get me a pot of tea with cream but no sugar, and a slice of apple lingonberry pie."

Maka nodded and got him the pie. She set it down on the table and went back behind the counter to prepare Soul's tea.

"Join me?" When Maka hesitated, Soul said, "Come on, it'll take a couple of minutes for the water to heat up. Plus, there's no one here. You can sit until then, right?"

"Fine." Maka huffed and sat down.

Soul was obviously taking his time eating his pie. Maka drummed her fingers impatiently as he ate. Soul finally took a break to smile. There was a piece of apple stuck in between his two front teeth. Maka decided not to tell his about it.

"So I heard you met my brother the other day. Hope that music mastermind didn't intimidate you too much."

"What?"

"The mechanical cat you happened to drop. Wes told me about it, and then asked me if I knew a girl named Maka. Shocked me that he knew you."

It took Maka a moment to process his words. Then she gaped open-mouthed at Soul.

"Wes is your brother?!"

Soul shrugged. "Only Wes Evans living in a cottage in the middle of the woods composing music that I know of. He called last night to tell about his new piano piece. First one in two years too. Tell me, did he still have a quilt on his bed? I've just gotta know!"

"I don't remember. It wasn't like I was staring at his bed or anything. That'd be weird."

Soul pouted, but nodded anyway. "Makes sense. A young girl staring at a lone single man's bed. Looks weird to anyone."

"Not like that!" Maka retorted. She could feel her face heating up. "Pervert."

"I do care about your virtue, tiny tits."

"And stop calling me that!"

Soul shrugged. "Sure. Can I get my tea soon?"

"Once the water's ready."

The kettle chose to whistle right at that moment. Maka's eyes narrowed as Soul began laughing. That was the worst timing on earth. Maka quickly poured the hot water in the pot and set it down on Soul's table. They waited for it to seep.

"So you dropped the thing you were delivering," Soul asked. "And it was broken?"

Maka blushed. She leaned in. "Don't you dare tell anyone about it. It was the worst day of my life."

"How were you not caught?"

"Blair posed as the cat until I found it."

"For real?"

"Do you think I'd lie about something like that?" Maka sat back as Soul poured them tea. "I felt so bad for leaving Blair for so long. It was dark by the time I could get back to pick her up. If it wasn't for the dog that family owned Blair would have surely been discovered."

"So you got lucky."

"Yes."

Soul hovered over her tea. "How do you like it?"

"Three sugars, a bit of cream."

Soul grimaced. "Sugar?"

"Are you serious? You're going to make fun of me because I put sugar in my tea? I bet most people prefer it with sugar anyway!"

"Probably. Makes sense though."

"Oh?"

Soul offered no further explanation. Maka decided to ignore that comment. Somehow she ended up sitting with him, laughing through her whole break until Black*Star came barging in going on about a new record available in stores. Soul left with that, but not before leaving Maka a tip worth four times his order.

"My family's made of money," he said. "So use that as a startup for your delivery service. But remember you owe me a cookie order someday."

And with that he left a sputtering Maka standing by the counter.

I hint at Soul being an Evans way too much before actually saying what that means. Oh well.

Next chapter: Both Kim and Kid have very interesting things to say about themselves.